Public Agenda (Accra)
3 April 2006
editorial
Accra — The United Nations and international human rights organisations have long campaigned against recruiters of child soldiers, urging their prosecution as "war criminals".
But the first breakthrough came only last week when the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague decided to arrest Thomas Lubanga, a founder and leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), on charges of conscripting children in the current insurgency against the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A second breakthrough came only last Wednesday with the arrest of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who will be prosecuted by a U.N.-sponsored tribunal in Sierra Leone, on charges of committing war crimes, including the recruitment of child soldiers.
Many observers say Taylor's capture could aid peace and stability in Liberia as it claws its way back from more than two decades of civil war. But equally significant is the wall of impunity and invincibility surrounding the former war lord, which has now been washed away.
Asked about Taylor's arrest in the aftermath of an attempt to escape from Nigeria where he was living in exile, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters: "It sends a message, not only to the people of Liberia, but all around the sub-region and around the continent that impunity will not be allowed to stand."
He also said that "brutal leaders who brutalise their people, who get engaged in organising wars, recruiting boys and girls and turning them into child soldiers, will pay a price".
Public Agenda supports the views of human rights activists that the fate of Charles Taylor is a warning to all would-be warlords that they will be held to account and that impunity will not be allowed to stand. Those days when power hungry leaders maimed and killed their own people are gone and future distabilisers should really think before they engage in any such adventure.
While Charles Taylor and Thomas Lubanga are being held and awaiting trial, the world must intensify efforts to stop other forms of child labour. Ghana, in recent times has been cited in various reports as gaining notoriety as a transit point for child traffickers. While we are lucky not to be recruiting child soldiers due to the relative peace in the country, the prevalence of child trafficking asks many questions of our commitment to combat the menace. The security agencies must be up and doing.
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